Fruit seeder



July 10, 1928. 1.676.413

A. s. PLOWMAN FRUIT SEEDER Filed Aug. 20, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet July 10, 1928. 1.676,413

, A. s. PLOWMAN FRUIT SEEDER Filed Aug.'20, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5' ag 6W 7 July 16, 1928.

1,676,413 A. S. PLOWMAN FRUIT SEEDER Filed Aug. 20, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 lllll lllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll II 3140014 to z Patented July10,1928. I Y 1 i I 1,676, 11 3 f TES - ARTHURS; PLOWMAN, OF NEW'YonK, 1v. nesztenonor ONE-FIFTH'TO sAIJvA'roRE A. DANNA, ENEW YORK, N Y. j I I U T e1" ATET; FFl-=Cf g g i I FRTIIT SEED ER. I I I Applicationlfil ed Aug 'ust20, 1924. serial nejasaovaf The present invention {relates .in general Figure dis a' plan view of Figure I to machines for'removlng seedsfrom fruit Figure 7 .18 va sectional detail in front andmore particularly to a machine for re; elevation on the :line 7. 7, Figure 6. moving seeds from fruit wherein the seed is F rgure 8 is an end'view of Fi 6 I 5 of the elongated type. I -F1gure'9 1s av fragmentary view of plates The'primary objectof theinvention is to for holding the vfruitin a receptacle While provide a thoroughly reliable and efficient said frult' sbeing slit.v I 1 I w 4 machine for automatically performing the Fl gure lO is a detail plan View of a-vfruit ec operations necessary to remove seeds from holding receptacle, the cup for holdingthe 10 f it, moistening means and" the conveyer member I Afeature of-theinventionconsists in profor carrying said elements. j I pviding means for slitting fruit longitudinal- I Flgu-re 11 is ad taill i i 'ai id l y I I ly "and holding said fruit in longitudinal tion ofth e bracket forholdinQ' the knife and 65 position while it i's being slit. Seed holding members. 5 Further features of the invention cona Figure 12 isaplan view of .thevsam'e. I sist in providing means for holding the-seed Figure 13 is'a detail in front elevation of a 2 inlongitudinal position While being ejected the e ws bl lseed ejecting member; I I and, means for ejecting the seed longitu Figure 14 is a bottom view of thesame. -70

dinal-ly from the: fruit. I F1gurel5-is a bottom detail view of the I Further features of the invention consist seed hQlCllngi' dgvi l. Q I I J I V i in proviclinglmean s for cleansing the fruit II1 the preferred embodiment/of inf,

holding receptacles and moistening ancl-Y n 10n asshoivn intheaccompanyin'g'drawcleansing, the fruit slitting, seedzholding and gS,,1 is the floor of the machine, 2 thiezleg 7 seed ejecting devices; v I and 3 thesupporting"frame, here shown'as Th hi i ti l l d i d t made of Wood. Fastened on opposite ends remove seeds from dates, prunes and all 1 e f ebyrsui ab j r brackets 4 lfl'llit. wherein the seed is of elongated ford 5 e t nsverse Shafts 6 and 7, each I mation, and consistsof means for slitting t having. mounted thereonmidway OfASO thefr-uit, meansforholdingthe seed, means the hmcQ- Sprocket Wheels 9 and 10., for ejectingthe seed from-:the fruit and B 13 G "W r OfStflHda-Td H-H I meansforcleansing andrmoistening; the sev- 18151110101011 and are e pull y 11, car- 'gepalv means,.to'.n1ore readily pemnit 15113111750 lylllg thereon 311 endless link beltmember properly performzth i functio11s I 12 vof -any :su1talolemake, preferably the 85 @then and further objects, incl di cerkind permitting the insertion of links of ta in features of construction and operation 1 631 CleSign for the PU P e a e ill appear i th ifi ti a d be set forth. Secured to the frame 3 adjacent i t d t i th d d l i f the left or front endof the machine are lup- I ence' beingyha'd. to theaccompanying draw rlghts and 15 the tops of which are at- 90 ings-vwhich show the preferred-embodiment Itached t0 EL CIOSS member 5- PP I QCl: I ofth li tri V on uprights 14 and15 on transversebars18 thenaccompanying.dramfings: 1s a vertlcal plate from which SllS- a-Fi'gure 1" is -a side elevation of thema'chine. p e ans for slitting the fruit and I bod ing- ,i ti j holding and "eJeCtingQtheJseed fron1 said, 95 ,Ei .g i a l j of th Sam; 3 fruit; To maintain these means in desired 4 Figure 13. is an :enlargedtelevation, partly P03351011 I p y bracket-20,, prefe ably;

1 in section, showingv the relative positionsr'ofl channeled-in the manner shown in Figures y theparts-at the:beg inningl;of aiseed remo'v- 7, 11 and 1,2. One end ofthisrbracketz ing-operation I 1 e l is provided With upwardly exten dingverti- 1 Figure-.4 is-la fragmentary view-showing cal armsythe tops of which havefears, 22 how the fruitis-npened. I j adapted to rest against verticalribs 23,

a Figure isafra-gmentary view showing forming part hof'plate 19. -To-permit -the@ how the seed isejected from; the-fruit. bracket '20 to be adjustedlvertically the ribs] 28 and plate 19 are slotted, as shown 'at 24, Figure 7, and through these slots and the ears 22 of the bracket. are bolts 25, each pro the bracket is a block 40 having a vertical slot 41 into which is fitted and'freely moves a knife 42, said knife being pivoted to the block 40 in the manner shown at 43. Theupper end of this knife has attached thereto one end of a spring 44, the opposite end of said spring being attached to an arm 45 forming part of the bracket 20. This spring permits the knife to yieldingly engage the fruit to be slit'b ut 'is of suiiicientv strength to slit said fruit to the depth of the seed. To prevent the spring from drawing-the knife back too far, the top of the block 40 is cut away at an angle, as shown at 47, Figure 3, to form stop for said knife.

The block 30 has a central vertical hole therethrough in which freely'rides the shank of the seed holding member 51. The lower end of this seed holding member is elongated horizontally to form a foot and isgrooved on its under side, as shown at 52 Figure 15, to engage and hold a seed in longitudinalposition while it is being ejected from the fruit. In order to have the seed holding member yieldingly engage a seed a spring is placed on the shank 50 between the bottom of the bracket 30 and a collar 54 on said shank. This spring provides for any variation in the position of the seed member is maintained by a spline '56 on the shank 50.

Attached to the plate 19 in vertical position and midway between ribs 23 on said plate, is a bar 60 having a vertical slot 61 adapted to receive a bolt 62 for adjusting said bar vertically on the plate 19. The lower end of this bar 60 has formed integral therewith a head 63 which extends forward in horizontal position and is employed to eject the seed from the fruit. The extreme forward portion of thishead is rounded, as shown at 64, and the rear portion tapered rearwardly, as shown at 65 Figure 14. The forward end of the rounded portion of this head is made concave to receive the adjacent the seed holding member and pushes the seed longitudinally forward through the fruit, while the seed holding member 51 retains the seed in longitudinal position. The object in tapering the headof the seed ejector is to provide means for opening the slit in the fruit to permit said fruit to be stuffed, when so desired. a

In the center of the table and lengthwise of the machine is fastened a beam 70. Attached to the top of this beam in any suitable manner is a U-shaped strip of metal 71 through which the receptacle conveying chain 12 rides, and is held in alinement while passing over the top of the machine.

This chain carries anumber of special shaped links 72 having ears 73 the fruit receptacles 7 5, as shown in Figures 3, 8 and 10. These receptaclesare large enough to contain one date, prune or the like in longitudinal position 3 while the seedis being ejected from the fruit. In order to permit the seed to pass freely from the fruit the forward ends of the receptacles are open,-

fastened to corresponding cars 74 formed 1ntegral with as shown at76. By referring to Figures 4,

the inner wall 77 of the receptacle and prcvent said fruit from being dislodged while the seed is being ejected. To aid iii holding the fruit in the receptacle while the seed is being ejected, I preferably notch the-inner wall of each receptacle with small spurs 78, as noticed in Figure 10. On one end of each fruit receptacle is a transverse bar 7 9 which rides on the upturned edges of the U shaped metal strip 71 and aids in supporting said receptacle in horizontal position.

After the fruit is placed in a receptacle it is necessary to provide some means to compress saidfruit firmly therein while it is undergoing the slitting and seed ejecting operations. This is accomplished by fas tening two vertical standards 80 to the beam 70 in a manner to support a roller 81 intransverse position and directly over the fruit receptacles, as shown in Figures 3, 4

and 10. When a filled fruit receptacle passes under said roller 81 the fruit will be firmly compressed within the receptacle in the manner shown 111 F lgures 4 and 5.

Owing to the amount of sugar present in dates, prunes and the like, itis essential that a tank '90 suit-ably supported on legs 91 and supplied respectively With-inlet and .outlet water .pipes 92 and 98. The chain 12, which carries the receptacles, passes through the tank and each receptacle is cleansed as it passes over a strong jet of water thrown out by the inlet pipe 92. i

It is advisible that the slitting knife, seed holding member and seed ejecting member be moistened after each operation, in order to permitthem to more easily perform their functions. vided With a number of special shaped links 95 to which are fastened'cups 96, see Figures 3 and 10. These cups contain any suitable .moistening material 97, such as sponge,

rubber or the like, and directly engage the slitting knife, seed holding member and seed ejecting member, all of which are disposed withinthe path of said moving cups. These cups are attached to the chain'12 just, forward of the fruit receptacles 75 and moisten said slitting knife, seed holding member and seed ejecting member immediately before they engage the fruit to perform their func-' tions. 7

lVhen the slitting knife 42 enters the fruit in a receptacle it has a tendency to lift or dislodge said fruit While it is being slit. To

overcome this objectionable featurel pro- 1 vide two right angle plates 100 which are fastened to the bracket 20 and project downward from said bracket and then inward over the receptacle, as shown at 101. These plates do not meet in the center but remain apart a sufficient distance to allow the slita ting knife to move freely betweenthem in the opening 102,- Figure 3. Thetransverse portions of these plates are just above the top surfaceof the receptacle and hold the fruit while it is being slit. By referring to Figure' l it Will be noticed that the slitting knife only-enters the fruit far enough to slit said fruit from end to end and to the depth of the seed. I

It should be noticed that the compressing roller, slitting knife, seed holding member,

seed ejecting member and cleansing tank are all fixed elements disposed within the path' of the chain carrying the fruit holding receptacles and moistening cups.

The chain 12 is therefore proi The operation of the machine isas follows:

Chain 12 having-been set in motion, the

fruit is placed in the receptacles at the forward end of the machine, manually orotherwise, and carried under the compressing in the receptacles. Separately the filled receptacles pass under the slitting knife and slit to the depth of the seed. The seed holding member then enters the slit-inthe fruit and engages the seed to hold it in longitudinal position. After the seed holder has passed into thefruit a sufficient distance to insure the holding of the seed, theend 64 of the "seed'ejecting member enters the slit in roller where said fruit is firmly lodged withthe fruit and engages, the end of aseed end of the receptacle, asshown in Figure 5.

As the seed is forced from the fruit the .tapered head 65 of the seed ejectingfmember I widens the slit in the fruit for the purpose explained. After the fruit is slit and the seed ejected the receptacles carry said fruit tothe rear of the machine where it is removed from the receptacles, manually or otherwise. lVhile I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, obvi ouslymodifications may be made within the spirit of the appended. claims.

I claim: i 1. In a machine of the character depushing said seed towards the opening in the 7 scribed, the combination of an endless travelling member, a plurality of receptacles carried by said travelling member, means for slitting the fruit, means for ejecting the containing a moistening material for engaging the slitting means, the seed guiding means and the seed ejecting means. I j

' ARTHUR S. PLONMAN.

ejecting the seed, and a plurality of cups. i 

